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Six Flags Opryland
Six Flags Opryland (formerly known as Opryland Theme Park, Opryland USA and colloquially referred to simply as Opryland) is/was (OTL) an amusement park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operates/operated (OTL) seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement every December from 1993 to 1997. History 1970s The genesis for a theme park in Nashville was the desire for a new, permanent, larger and more modern home for the long-running Grand Ole Opry radio program. The Ryman Auditorium, its home since 1943, was beginning to suffer from disrepair as the downtown neighborhood around it was falling victim to increasing urban decay. Despite these shortcomings, the show's popularity was increasing and its weekly crowds were outgrowing the 3,000-seat venue. Organizers were seeking to build a new air-conditioned venue with a greater capacity and ample parking in a then-rural area of town, providing visitors a safer and more enjoyable experience. WSM, Inc. (a subsidiary of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, later NLT Corporation), the operator of WSM-AM-FM-TV and the Opry, purchased a large tract of riverside land (Rudy's Farm) owned by a local sausage manufacturer in the Pennington Bend area of Nashville, adjacent to the newly constructed Briley Parkway. The new Opry venue was to be the centerpiece of a grand entertainment complex at that location, which would come to include the theme park and a large hotel/convention center. The theme park opened to the public on May 27, 1972,2 well ahead of the Grand Ole Opry House, which debuted nearly two years later, on March 16, 1974. The park was named for WSM disc jockey Grant Turner's early morning show, "Opryland USA", itself a nod to the stars of the Grand Ole Opry. However, despite the obvious connection to country music, the park's overall theme was American music in general; there were jazz, gospel, bluegrass, pop, and rock and roll-themed attractions and shows in addition to country. Opryland's focus was more on its musical productions rather than its rides and other attractions. As such, it was billed as a "showpark", and not an "amusement park" or "theme park" in its early days. Major thrill rides at the park's opening included the "Timber Topper" (later renamed "Rock 'n Roller Coaster") roller coaster and "Flume Zoom" (later renamed "Dulcimer Splash") log flume. In the fourth season in 1975, Opryland expanded for the first time. The "State Fair" area was constructed on land formerly occupied by the park's buffalo exhibit. The new expansion featured a large selection of carnival games, as well as the Wabash Cannonball roller coaster, Country Bumpkin Bump Cars, and Tennessee Waltz swings. However, shortly before opening for the season, the park fell victim to a large flood of the Cumberland River that covered most of the park and was as deep as sixteen feet in some locations. The park's opening was delayed by a month and several animals in the petting zoo were killed by the floodwaters. Opryland became extremely successful during the mid-1970s, and by the 1977 season the park was drawing nearly 2 million guests annually, the preponderance of which were from Tennessee and adjoining states. The park also drew upon the continued appeal of the Opry show itself to Southern and Midwestern country music fans elsewhere, who often brought their families for a several-days' vacation in Nashville. The nearest theme parks comparable to Opryland were four to six hours away, in places such as Cincinnati (Kings Island), St. Louis (Six Flags over Mid-America), and Atlanta (Six Flags Over Georgia). Attendance continued to climb into the 1980s. In 1977, Opryland Hotel (now called Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center), a large resort-style hotel, was built next door to the park, and has expanded several times to become the largest hotel in the world not attached to a casino. In 1979, Opryland added the Roy Acuff Theater, named after the beloved traditional country singer and pillar of the Opry, next door to the Grand Ole Opry House in the Plaza area. It was primarily used for the theme park's premier musical production. Because the theater was placed outside the park gates, tickets to the theme park were not required to attend shows at the Acuff. However, shows at this venue usually required a separately-purchased ticket. This also allowed the general public to attend shows at the Acuff without having to pay for park admission, like the Opry itself. Ownership change Beginning in 1980, Houston-based insurer American General began purchasing blocks of NLT stock, eventually becoming NLT's largest shareholder and setting the stage for an outright takeover. However, American General was not interested in NLT's non-insurance businesses and opted to sell off the WSM division, which included WSM-AM-FM-TV, The Nashville Network, the Grand Ole Opry, the then-decrepit Ryman Auditorium, Opryland Hotel, and Opryland USA. Unable to acquire television and radio assets due to FCC ownership restrictions of the time, American General influenced NLT to sell WSM-TV to Gillett Broadcasting (operated by George N. Gillett Jr.), which bought the station on November 3, 1981 and changed the station's call sign to WSMV (officially modified to WSMV-TV on July 15, 1982). By 1982, the takeover was complete and American General began approaching companies such as MCA, Marriott Corporation and Anheuser-Busch about a possible sale of the remainder of WSM, Inc. While many of the companies showed interest in one of the assets, such as the theme park alone or the radio station, none was willing to buy the entire complex. American General began to feel that the only way to sell WSM, Inc. would be to split it up into separate entities. Suddenly, Gaylord Broadcasting Company of Oklahoma City stepped in and purchased the entire package in September 1983 for US$250,000,000 (equivalent to $614,266,622 in 2017).7 After the purchase, the company's name was changed to Gaylord Entertainment Company. Ed Gaylord, the then-controlling figure of Gaylord Entertainment, was a huge fan of the Opry and weighed in on the decision to purchase Opryland. Also included in Gaylord's acquisition of the Opryland assets was WSM's fledgling cable network, The Nashville Network (TNN) and its production arm, Opryland Productions. TNN became a television network dedicated entirely to country music. For years, its offices and production facilities were located on-site at Opryland, and a nightly variety show (originally Nashville Now, later Music City Tonight and Prime Time Country) was broadcast live from the Gaslight Theatre inside the park itself. The theme park was often featured on the network as a concert venue for country music stars. 1980s – 1990s Opryland USA logo used from the late-1980s through 1992. As a nod to its predecessor, the mandolin mark was incorporated into the original Opry Mills logo (OTL). In 1982, Opryland expanded its footprint for the second and final time. The new area, entitled "Grizzly Country", was built on the extreme north end of the park to house the Grizzly River Rampage, a river rafting ride. The ride was originally promoted by band called the Grizzly River Boys, later known as the Tennessee River Boys, who were originally intended to promote the park through a one-time television special, but became popular enough that they were a permanent attraction in the park for several years. The band's membership originally included Ty Herndon, and after several personnel changes, grew to become the band Diamond Rio. In 1984, Opryland added a third roller coaster, "The Screamin' Delta Demon" (an Intamin bobsled roller coaster), in the New Orleans area of the park. This project also included adding a second (albeit subtle) park gate adjacent to the parking lot. In the mid-1980s, "Trickets" (three-day admission tickets for one price) were introduced and large numbers of season passes were sold to residents of the Nashville area. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two new competitors to Opryland would emerge: Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (which had recently been converted and expanded from its previous incarnation as "Silver Dollar City"). These two parks grew into regional destinations, contributing in part to a decline in Opryland attendance. Partially in response to the competition, and to entice out-of-town guests to come, package deals including rooms at the hotel, tickets to Opryland, and admission to the Grand Ole Opry were developed and marketed throughout the region. Annual changes were made to the park to continue to attract local Nashvillians as well as out-of-town visitors. Large attractions such as the General Jackson Showboat, new roller coasters, and water rides were installed on a biennial basis until 1989, with the opening of the "Chaos" roller coaster. The next (and final) large attraction to open would be "The Hangman" roller coaster in 1995. In 1992, the Chevrolet-Geo Celebrity Theater (renamed Chevrolet Theater in 1997, following General Motors' shuttering of the Geo brand) was constructed on the site of the former Jukebox and Flip-Side Theaters. With the construction of the park's new flagship venue, Opryland began attracting top country music acts for nightly concerts, included in the price of park admission. In 1994, Opryland began upcharging for the concerts and added two venues (Theater By The Lake and the Roy Acuff Theater) to the series, billing it as "Nashville On Stage". As part of this, the Chevrolet-Geo Theater and Theater By The Lake venues were expanded and partially enclosed. Alabama, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker, and The Oak Ridge Boys took up residency at the park during the summer of 1994, occupying the Chevrolet-Geo Celebrity Theater and Theater By The Lake, while the conventional concert series, featuring traveling artists, moved to the Roy Acuff Theater. During the day, the Roy Acuff Theater also hosted a live version of "Hee Haw" based on the long-running TV series. After lackluster ticket sales, the multi-venue series was significantly scaled back after 1994. By Opryland's final season in 1997, only the Chevrolet Theater was hosting concerts. During the summer of 1993, the popular Mark Goodson game show Family Feud traveled to Opryland and taped several weeks of episodes at the Chevrolet-Geo Celebrity Theater, which opened the show's sixth and final season with Ray Combs as host. These syndicated episodes began airing in September and featured some of country music's brightest stars including Porter Wagoner, Boxcar Willie, Charley Pride, Brenda Lee, the Mandrells, and the Statler Brothers, as well as at least one week of regular Nashville families playing against each other. As of 2017, it remains the only time in the history of the long-running series that episodes have been taped outside of its home studio. Also, beginning in the early 1990s and continuing through 1995, as a nod to TNN's NASCAR coverage, as well as Opryland's official designation with NASCAR, the annual "TNN Salute to Motorsports" event would take place over a weeklong period. This included numerous motorsports exhibits as well as meet-and-greets with racing personalities. Six Flags (1993-present) In 1993 Six Flags bought Opryland USA from Gaylord Entertainment and it was renamed to just "Opryland". Park revamp 1997-2002 In 1997, Opryland went under a five year revamp including the a third park rename to "Six Flags Opryland" and the addition of DC Comics and Looney Tunes characters to the park. Six Flags also ruined the theming like most of the parks they buy out, out comes the trees and in comes a "panoramic view" of the Opryland Hotel exterior. Also, the nine flags at the front entrance was cut down to six and the old ones (besides the USA flag) were replaced by generic one color flags. They also tore down the Hangman due to complaints about being rough and wanting it to be demolished, however, it was relocated to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and replaced by "Batman 2000" in 1999 a B&M inverted coaster that was Batman, but more of a "Modern styled B&M" like Afterburn at Paramount's Carowinds but retains the basic layout, six inversions instead of 5 adding a second zero g roll between the two corkscrews, 175 ft tall, 65 mph, mid course brake run to replace the straight section and a sleeker support structure. Areas Current * Opry Plaza (1972-present) * Metropolis (1997-present) * Hill Country (1972-present) * Riverside Area (1972-present) * State Fair (1975-present) * Hurricane Harbor (water park; 1995-present, formerly known as "Splashtown" (1995-2012)) * Crackaxle Canyon (1997-present) * Looney Tunes Music City (1997-present) * Kidzopolis (2008; formerly known as "Wiggles World" (2008-2010)) Former * Doo Wah Diddy City (1972-1996; replaced with Metropolis) * Grizzly Country (1982-1996; replaced with Crackaxle Canyon) * American West Area (1972-1996; replaced with Crackaxle Canyon) * New Orleans Area (1972-1996; replaced with Metropolis) * Lakeside Area (1972-2007; replaced with Looney Tunes Music City) * Little Opry (1997-2007; replaced with Kidzopolis) Rides and attractions Roller coasters Water rides Flat rides Thrill rides Family Kiddie Waterpark Originally called "SplashTown" from when it first opened in 1995 until being renamed in 2013 to "Hurricane Harbor". In 2014, it got a major expansion. Former rides Category:Six Flags Category:Amusement parks Category:Amusement parks in the United States